Always
by nmufti87
Summary: Story revolves around Lucas & Peyton. Alternate 2.09


A/N: - I've never written a one-shot before, and this is my first try. I was just re-watching all the seasons, before OTH started up again, and I have a few ideas lurking around in my mind.

Basically the things I would've wanted to happen, instead of what actually happened. Let me know what you guys think.

In this one-shot a few of the scenes are taken from 2.09. This story revolves around 2.09

The thoughts that the characters are having are in bold & italics.

Disclaimer: - I don't own OTH, or Lucas & Peyton.

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"**Always"**

Peyton sat on one of the tables, on the furthest corner from where Lucas stood. All night, he'd tried his best to not pay attention to her, but with the way she looked tonight, it was really hard for him, to not take notice of her. She was dressed in a simple yet beautiful green dress, which started from her chest and ended just a little above her knees. She looked beautiful.

He watched her as Anna walked up to her & sat down next to her.

Anna.

The girl he'd brought to the formal with him. It had been a couple of weeks since she had entered his life, like a breath of fresh-air. Someone who didn't remind him of the mistakes he'd made. Someone who was different from the people he'd known. Someone who wasn't _**her**__. _Whenever he'd try to think of Anna, tonight, out of nowhere _**she**_ would pop back in his head. Maybe it was because of the way Anna's hair was styled tonight. She had done her hair in curls. All he'd ever wanted to do was put his hands wrist deep into those curls, but they weren't on the head of the girl he'd _**once**_ loved. Or so he kept telling himself from time to time.

Shaking his head from side-to-side to rid himself from the images that plagued his mind whenever he saw any form of those curls, he concentrated on the scene that unfolded before his eyes. Without knowing he'd walked closer to the table and was now just standing a couple of feet away, close enough to hear the conversation that was taking place.

"Can I talk to you?" Anna was asking Peyton.

"Yeah," Peyton said, as she turned her face towards Anna's, "what's up?" she asked, with a lift of her brow.

"Hey, no secrets," Felix interrupted, before they could continue with their conversation, "Unless they're juicy."

Peyton looks at Anna with a 'what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-your-brother-look' as Anna stared pointedly at Felix.

"I guess I'm not used to seeing my little sis in anything but a Catholic school uniform," Felix says, as Anna relaxes a little at Felix's comment.

Peyton smirks slightly before saying "I think she's looks gorgeous," as she tries to separate some of the tendrils of Anna's hair that seemed tangled.

"Wow," Felix exclaims, "I didn't know this was a lesbian mixer," he finishes with a snicker. Everyone started snickering at his comment.

Lucas's hands balled up into fists hearing him say something like that to Peyton. The nerve of the guy to say something like that to _**his**_Peyton. He couldn't even understand where all the anger was coming from, it just was.

"Yah, Peyton," Anna said, as she slaps away Peyton's hand from her hair, "don't be so gay."

Peyton stared at Anna, in shock. Anna looked here and there trying to avoid Peyton's eyes, as she spotted Lucas standing close by. She got up from her seat, without a second word, leaving a shocked Peyton behind.

"Hey, you," Anna said, as she reaches Lucas.

"What happened?" Lucas asks, as he glances at Anna for a second, before his eyes automatically focus on Peyton's form once again.

"Nothing. Can we dance?" Anna asks him, not wanting to talk about how horribly she screwed up with Peyton.

"Can you just give me a minute?" Lucas asks, giving Anna a small smile.

"Sure, I'll be right here," Anna replied, before placing a small kiss on Lucas's cheek.

Lucas smiles at her, before he walks over to where Peyton was sitting.

"This seat taken?" he asks, with a small smile on his lips.

"Yah," Peyton nods, as she looks up, surprise apparent in her eyes, "I'm waiting for Brooke."

"Uhmm, I just wanted to ask you if you were okay." Lucas says, knowing fully well that if Peyton didn't want to discuss something they sure as hell weren't going to.

"Why wouldn't I be okay? Peyton retorts, "You should go, Luke. Your _date's _waiting for you," she says, as she nods her head towards Anna, before getting up from her seat & walking away without another word.

Lucas just stared at her retreating figure, before shaking his head and heading towards Anna. There used to be a time when Lucas didn't even have to ask if she was okay or not, he'd just know. And now, they'd come to a point where she wouldn't even tell him if anything was wrong or not.

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Peyton walked away from the dancing area quickly, wanting to get away from Lucas's penetrating gaze & his dire need to know everything that was wrong in everyone's life.

_**Even though we haven't spoken in ages, he still wants to know what's wrong with me. When will he understand that his absence in my life, is what's wrong with me.**_

Such thoughts are passing through her brain, before she walks into the ladies room & spots Karen applying her lipstick.

Karen glances in the mirror to see who walked inside, and spots Peyton.

"Peyton," Karen says. As Karen looks at Peyton's face, worry suddenly fills her, "Oh no. Bad night," she asks, as she turns around to face Peyton.

"No," Peyton says, always the one to not bother anyone with her troubles, "I'm okay. It's just not a …."

"Not exactly a dream come true?" Karen finishes Peyton's sentence, in a tentative voice.

"Yah," Peyton says, with a nod of her head.

Karen looks at her with a small smile, "Well, it could be worse. At my formal, I went with Dan," she says, with a small laugh.

Peyton smiles lightly at the comment.

"There's a smile," Karen says, with a small smile.

"Now, come on," Karen says, as she gently pats Peyton's cheek, "get out there and have some fun," she says, as she nods towards the door. "You can't let a stunning dress like that go to waste," she says, glancing at Peyton's dress with a small smile.

"Thanks," Peyton said, with a smile, "It was my mom's."

Upon hearing Peyton's mom's name, Karen signs lightly as she quickly takes Peyton in to her arms, to comfort her.

After a second, Peyton relaxes into the embrace, although her hands were slightly quivering because of the mention of her mother.

"You know," Karen began, as she let go of Peyton, "I don't know what its like to have a daughter, but I do know what it's like to be a mother, and your mother would be so proud of the woman you're becoming," she says, as she gently tries to coax Peyton.

Peyton smiles lightly, as she trembles, because she had to talk about her mother, as a lone tear escapes her eyes.

"Oh," Karen says, as she sees the tear escape Peyton's eyes, "I didn't mean to go make you cry," she says, as she gently wipes away the tear with the pad of her thumb.

Peyton shakes her head, and says "I'm going to be fine."

"I know you are," Karen says, as she nudges Peyton to look at her & then with much more conviction to her words, "I know you are."

Karen lightly smiles at Peyton before she gives Peyton another hug, before she walks out of the bathroom.

Peyton looks at herself in the mirror, before she wipes away the remaining tears with her fingers, before she too walks out of the bathroom.

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Peyton walks up the steps to Nathan's parent's beach house, looking for Brooke. She looks here and there to see if Brooke was around, before she spots Mouth standing in front of her.

"Hey Mouth," she starts, "have you seen Brooke?"

"Yeah," Mouth says, staring right in front of him, with remorse in his voice, "she's benefiting with Felix," with that being said, he picks up a random bottle of vodka, before he walks away.

Peyton glances at his retreating figure before she looks in front of her, when she feels a guy walking into her and something cold falling on her dress.

"Oh, my God!" she exclaims, as she sees the drops of liquid quickly spread over her dress.

"Sorry," the guy says, before Peyton waves her hand in front of him to tell him to leave her alone.

Peyton bows her head to look at the stain quickly spreading on her dress, before her hands instinctively touch the stain. She's trying to hold the tears back, as she sees her mother's formal dress getting ruined.

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After having the last dance of the night with Anna, Lucas dropped her off to her place, before he started making his way back home.

_**She was looking so beautiful tonight.**_

He couldn't stop himself from thinking about Peyton. Even when he tried to keep his thoughts, strictly platonic, something would just pop in his mind. The way she smiled, the way her eyes lit up whenever she was happy, the way she quirked her eyebrow whenever she smirked.

A smile came to his face, just thinking about her. He couldn't ever understand how he could do so much wrong by her. He promised himself the day he left Tree Hill to go to Charleston, that if it was in his power, he would never hurt Peyton again. No matter what happened. And yet tonight, she wouldn't let him come close to her, she just wouldn't let him in.

He signed before he parked his car in the drive-way, and made his way inside.

"Hey Ma," Lucas called, as he stepped into the house, "I'm home."

"Hey, Luke," Karen said, as she stepped out of her room, to greet her son. "How was the formal?"

"It was okay. When did you get home?" Lucas asked.

"Just a while ago," Karen said, with a small smile.

"Lucas," Karen calls, before he could walk into his room.

"Yes," Lucas says.

"Did you see Peyton," Karen asks, "I mean, before you left?"

"No," Lucas replies, instantly worried, "Why?"

"Just wondering," Karen says, knowing that another question was coming up.

"Ma," Lucas asks a question in his eyes.

"Lucas," Karen says, "It's not my place to say anything to you."

"I know that, Mom," Lucas signs, "but if something's wrong with Peyton, I _need_ to know."

"Since when?" Karen asks.

"Mom, Peyton's my friend," Lucas says, not wanting to have this conversation with anyone, especially his mother.

"Peyton's not been your friend for a while now, Lucas." Karen says, "And you know that."

"That doesn't mean I don't worry about her, Mom," Lucas explains.

"Yah, well I didn't think you'd have the time to worry about her since Anna came into your life," Karen says, softly.

"Mom, you're not being fair," Lucas says, rubbing his forehead with the pads of his thumbs.

"Fine," Karen says, "I won't say anything to you," she says, before starting to walk back into her room.

"You're not going to tell me what was wrong with Peyton," Lucas asked, "Are you?"

"Like I said Lucas," Karen replies "It's not my place to say anything."

Karen walked into her room, before Lucas could say anything else.

Lucas stood in the kitchen, thinking about what he should do. Should he go & check up on Peyton, or should he just let it be. It's not as if she'd tell him if he went over. But when had that ever stopped him before. He grabbed his car keys from the table he'd kept them on, and stepped out of the door.

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Peyton roughly scraped the dress with a toothbrush trying to take off the stain that had set in her mother's dress. Tears slipped down from her face as she continued to scrap off the stain.

She couldn't stop the tears from flowing from her eyes, and neither could she remove the stain that was set on the dress. She threw the brush in the sink before she threw the dress on the side, tears flowing through her eyes.

She sniffed loudly before she grabbed her bag, searching for the one thing that would set her free from all the pain she'd been feeling for the past couple of days.

The pain of watching Jake & Jenny leave, the pain she felt for hurting her best friend, the pain of her father never being there & more then anything else, the pain of watching _Lucas_ betray her.

She quickly sorted through the contents of her purse, as she saw the vial that her eyes were searching for. She grabbed on to the small vial, before throwing the bag to the side.

She got a hold of one of the disks near the sink and poured the contents of the vial on the disk. The white powder freely poured through the vial on to the disk.

She held on to another disk, as she quickly separated the contents on to two fine lines, before her eyes fell on the reflection on the disk.

She couldn't do this. She wouldn't do this. This is not who she was, this is not what she was. She was a strong person. She was someone who'd fight against the pain. She couldn't be the person who'd do this. She won't do this.

"God!!!" she screamed, as she loudly hurled the disk on the mirror, before she collapsed to the floor with loud sobs. She held on to the edge of sink, as she bowed down on the floor, her face resting on her folded arms.

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Lucas stood outside her house, thinking whether he should go in or not. Having been standing there for the past ten minutes, not knowing for sure whether he should go in or not, he finally found the nerve to walk in.

It had never been like this between the two of them, he'd never had to think whether he should go in or not, he just would. At that moment, he decided that another thought like this would never plague his mind again; they would never come down to this again. He was going to resolve there differences once & for all. Tonight. Right now.

He quickly stepped on the porch, before opening the door. Of course, it was open. He'd tried a million times to convince her to lock the door, especially at night, but she'd never listened. Always the stubborn one, she was.

He quickly treaded the steps that would take him to her room. Before he could walk in, he could hear the quiet sobs that were coming from within.

_**Oh god! That better not be her crying.**_

Lucas quickly walked into her room, without knocking, to see Peyton sitting near the door of her bathroom, her head rested on top of her knees, her body slightly shaking with the sobs that racked her body.

"Peyton," Lucas said, softly.

Lucas could see her body freeze as she heard his voice.

"Lucas," Peyton said, her voice hoarse from all the crying she'd done, in the past half n hour.

His heart broke at the way she spoke his name.

Peyton lifted her head slightly, to see if Lucas was really there or not, or if her mind was playing tricks on her.

As she spotted him really standing in front of her, her defenses shot up in an instant.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked, as he quickly walked towards Peyton, so that he could comfort her.

Peyton shot up in an instant from her place, rubbing at her face, to rid it of the tears stains that were surely there.

"What are you doing here, Lucas?" Peyton asked, with an icy voice.

Lucas was taken aback by the tone of her voice. "I just came to check up on you."

"You didn't have to do that, Lucas," Peyton said, as her heart broke at the sight of the boy she'd once loved.

"I know," Lucas said, as he quietly walked towards her, "but I wanted to."

"No," Peyton said, shaking her head, "you didn't." Not wanting for a second to believe that he needed her. She couldn't let herself believe that. She couldn't let him in again. She _won't _let him in again.

"Peyton …," Lucas started.

"No, Lucas," Peyton said, with the tears threatening to spill again from behind her lids, "you can't come in here and say something like that to me."

"But," Lucas began, as he tried to walk towards her.

"Lucas, you can't," Peyton said, as she stared at him, motioning for him stop in his tracks, as if to say that she couldn't take it if he came anywhere near her.

"Peyton, you've got to let me help you," Lucas said, as he tried to move closer again.

"I don't need your help," Peyton said, "Just go."

"No," Lucas said, as he stood his ground.

"Lucas," Peyton said, as anger started replacing what she'd felt just a few minutes ago, "this is my house and I want you to leave."

"I'll leave, as soon as I know that you're okay," Lucas said, softly, as he moved towards Peyton again, trying to hold her in his arms, so that he could protect her from whatever the hell she was feeling.

This is what he felt whenever he felt that she needed someone, anyone. He always felt within the depths of his being, that he had to protect her. That he had to keep her safe, from everyone and everything that might hurt her. So it wasn't a surprise that that shot to hell when she roughly pushed him away from herself when he tried to come closer.

"NO, LUCAS!" Peyton, all but yelled, "I don't want you to come near me. You can't do this. You can't come in here and try to protect me whenever you think something's wrong. Whatever the hell happened to me is none of your business. Believe me, when I say that, you went to great lengths to make sure that it was none of your business," Peyton said, her voice shaking with every word that spilled from her mouth.

She'd been keeping all of the pain, all of the hurt that he'd caused her locked inside of her for too long. She couldn't take it anymore. She felt as if she was being stretched so tight that she would break. And she just snapped. She couldn't control it any longer.

"Peyton, don't say that," Lucas said, not knowing what else to do. He'd never seen Peyton this angry with him, not even when she'd found out about Nicki. Although she'd given up on talking to him altogether, but that was better then seeing her like this.

"Well then tell me what you want me to say? What should I say to ease the pain that you're in right now," Peyton asked, sarcastically.

"Peyton …" Lucas said, with a sad expression.

"Don't look at me like that, okay," Peyton said, "I've had about enough of what I can handle, when it comes to you."

Lucas shook his head, as the weight of her words hit him like a ton of bricks; he closed his eyes at the words she'd just spoken to him.

"Peyton, I didn't come here to fight with you," Lucas said, after a second, "I just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"Well, you lost that right a long time ago," Peyton said, as she turned her back towards him, not wanting to look at him again.

_**Why can't he just leave? I don't want to hurt him more then I already have, but I can't let him in. He needs to go.**_

Lucas stood still for a minute or two, before he walked towards Peyton and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Peyton," Lucas said, softly.

"GOD!" Peyton said, as she turned around, "Don't you understand, I don't want you here," Peyton said, as her hands went in her hair, to try to control herself.

He didn't know what came over him. But at that instant all he wanted to do was kiss her. Feel her near him. Feel close to her for some reason. So without thinking he cupped her face with his hands, and brought his lips upon hers, he could see the confusion in her eyes before he closed his eyes, and kissed her.

He could feel everything he felt for her seep through his pores and in to the kiss. All the moments that he'd spend with her, all the time they'd been apart, all the times they'd been together. All of those moments went through his mind.

Peyton was in shock for a second, not knowing what to do, before she came to her senses and roughly pushed Lucas away from herself. Before she knew what was happening her hand connected with his face.

"Peyton," Lucas said, as he saw the look on her face, before he put his hand on his cheek.

Peyton quickly covered her mouth with her hand, going in shock of what she'd just done.

"Lucas, you need to leave," Peyton said, as she turned away from him.

"No." Lucas said, "I'm not leaving you, especially after what just happened. You need to tell me what's wrong, I'm not going to hurt you again," Lucas said.

Peyton whirled around at what she'd just heard

"For some reason, I find that very hard to believe." Peyton said her voice full of scorn.

"Peyton," Lucas said.

"You really expect me to believe you," Peyton started, "you're telling me that you won't hurt me again, after you went after my best friend just because I couldn't tell you how I felt. You won't hurt me, even though you went and slept with a girl you barely knew," Peyton said, "you didn't even try once to talk to me, after I left you that day in school. You didn't even say good-bye before going."

"Peyton, I told you how I felt and you rejected me," Lucas started, the pain visible in his eyes, "I slept with Nicki, because I was in a dark place at that time & I left you a letter before leaving."

"Dark place?" Peyton asked, "Dark place, you're kidding me, right? I must've been in twenty different dark places, do you see me sleeping around with guys?" she asked, with a lift of her eyebrows.

Lucas winced at the mere thought of it.

"Lucas, there is no point of this now," Peyton said, as she gently rubbed her forehead with the pads of her thumbs, "We're done."

"Don't say that, Peyton." Lucas said, "I need you to tell me what's wrong?" Lucas said, once again urging her to tell him.

"Nothing," Peyton said, "some guy spilled a drink on my dress," Peyton said, hoping that now she'd told him, he would just leave.

"You were crying so badly because of that?" Lucas asked, not believing what she'd just said.

"The dress was my mom's, Luke," Peyton said, as her voice quivered again.

Lucas quickly walked up to her & didn't give her the chance to say anything, and took her in his arms.

Peyton didn't have the strength in her anymore to fight him. She just let him embrace her.

Lucas held on to Peyton for a really long time. Just trying to comfort her. Her body racked with the tears that spilled through her eyes, but he still held on to her, waiting for her to quiet down. He instinctively let his hands go in her hair, as he felt the softness of it.

Peyton held on to Lucas, as if her life depended on it. She couldn't stop herself anymore, she couldn't fight it anymore.

"Shhh. It's going to be okay," Lucas said, as he ran his hands soothingly on her back, "I'm here."

"I know you are." Peyton whispered softly, as she held on to him.

"I'll always be here, Peyton," Lucas said, and before he could stop himself, "I love you."

Peyton froze against his body, before she slowly lifted her eyes to stare at his face.

"What?" Peyton asked her voice hoarse.

"I've always loved you, Peyton." Lucas said, with a small smile, touching her face with the tips of his fingers as he wiped away the tear stains.

"It doesn't feel like it sometimes," Peyton said, in a whisper.

"Well, it will now," Lucas said, with his voice full of conviction.

"What about Anna?" Peyton asked, with a quizzical expression.

"Anna's great," Lucas said, with the same love in his eyes that he'd had when he'd said it the first time around, and if possible even more then the love he'd felt before, "but she's not you."

Peyton smiled at the words she'd heard not so long ago.

"I'm not going to hurt you again," Lucas said.

"I don't think I'll be able to live if you do," Peyton said, another tear spilling from her eyes.

Lucas wiped the tears with the pads of his thumbs, before he gently took her face in his hands as if to seal his words, he kissed her with all the love that he felt for her, in that one kiss.

As he let go off her, Peyton smiled slightly at him, not believing that they could find each other again like this, especially after the night she'd just had.

"Thank you," Peyton said.

"For what?" Lucas asked, quizzically.

"For being here for me, when I need you," Peyton said.

"I'll always be here with you, Peyton," Lucas said, with a smile, "I promise."

"You better," Peyton said, with a smile.

"I love you, Peyton," Lucas said, kissing Peyton's temple lightly.

"I love you, too, Lucas," Peyton said, as she hugged him.

Lucas's heart seared at hearing her say that she loved him for the first time. He hugged her tightly, vowing to himself to never let go off the one person he loved more then anything else.

He'd come here tonight to make sure that everything would be okay between the two of them, and he couldn't believe the fact that now Peyton was his forever.

He vowed himself to be with her forever. Always.

A/N: - So, I really don't know how well I wrote this, or if you guys thought that it would go in the direction that it did. But when I started I couldn't stop. I hope you guys liked it. Thanks for reading.


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